surprise French · revision 16593

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1549, Robert Estienne|origins=la prehendō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /syʁ.pʁiz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''surprise''' ''f'' (plural surprises)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''sorprise'' (about 1160–75), ''surprise'' (1294) in the sense “extraordinary tax”, ''surprinse'' in the 16th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ In its modern senses it is the feminine past participle of [[surprendre]] used as a noun.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|9, 351a) The medieval “surprise” “extraordinary tax” is probably a separate formation, from [[sur-]] and [[prise]], a financial term (Medieval Latin “prisia”, 1209).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1175) has ''sorprise'' for an extraordinary tax; the sense “act of taking someone unawares” appears in Robert Estienne (1549), of a legal action obtained by trickery, and in Amyot (1559), of a surprise attack.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Corneille (1642) speaks of ''surprises des sens'', and in 1662 uses it for the emotion caused by something unexpected, the main sense today.^(TLFi) Furetière (1690) notes that the surprise of a play's ending gives pleasure; in 1782 Madame de Genlis has the sense of an unexpected present or treat.^(TLFi) A ''surprise'' was also a cone of sweets with a small present inside (1842), and Balzac (1847) has ''boîte à surprise''; the ''pochette surprise'' is its descendant.^(TLFi)^(BHVF) Used as an adjective, ''surprise'' means unannounced: ''visite surprise'', ''grève surprise''.^(BHVF)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1175 – ''Sorprise'' “extraordinary tax”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – Taking unawares, Robert Estienne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – A surprise attack, Amyot.^(TLFi)

+ * 1662 – The emotion of surprise, Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1782 – An unexpected present, Madame de Genlis.^(TLFi)

+ * 1842 – A cone of sweets with a present.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|surprise]], astonishment: ''à ma grande surprise'', ''un cri de surprise''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something unexpected: ''quelle surprise !'', ''avoir une mauvaise surprise'', ''sans surprise''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # A present, treat: ''faire une surprise à qqn''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Par surprise'': by surprise, unawares: ''attaquer par surprise''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(as adjective)'' Surprise, unexpected: ''une visite surprise'', ''pochette surprise''.^(BHVF)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[surprendre]]

+ * [[prise]]

+ * [[prendre]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}